Finding Cassidy

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

As Cassidy MacLaughlin’s 17th birthday approaches, her life begins to
unravel. She learns that her father, Frank, the deputy mayor of
Victoria, B.C., has been diagnosed with Huntington’s chorea, a
progressive, incurable, and fatal disease. Through Internet research,
Cassidy then discovers that she has a one in two chance of genetically
inheriting it. Though Cassidy wants to be tested, her parents won’t
allow it. Then her father admits that Cassidy need not worry as she is
not his biological daughter, her conception having been achieved via
donated sperm from a fertility clinic. Rocked by the revelation and
furious at her parents for concealing this secret, Cassidy angrily
rejects the man she has called her father and, now uncertain as to who
she really is, begins a quest to ascertain the sperm donor’s identity.
The only certainty in Cassidy’s life appears to be her relationship
with her boyfriend, Jason, but, after losing her virginity to him, she
suddenly fears that Jason could potentially be her half-brother since he
too does not know his birth father’s identity. At a party, Cassidy
worsens her situation by drunkenly blurting out that she’s a “sperm
child,” an admission that leads to cruel taunting from her
image-conscious private high school classmates.

Teen readers may be surprised to learn that sperm-donor offspring have
fewer legal rights than do adoptees to identify a biological parent.
Although thwarted in her search, Cassidy, having finally recognized the
true meaning of “father,” reconciles with Frank. Recommended.